


Armitage of Huxley

by thecopperriver



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: M/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-02-29 14:27:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18780124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecopperriver/pseuds/thecopperriver
Summary: In the far reaches of the galaxy, those desperate places the New Republic doesn't care to offer their protection, there are rumours of a man known only as 'The General'.  He and his people hold to no allegiance but their own, hijacking cargoes from the First Order, New Republic, cartels, and any other organization that builds their wealth on the backs of exploiting the helpless.  Those supplies somehow arrive at the places they're most needed, but few have ever spoken to the enigmatic crew.And now, Supreme Leader Snoke has sent the Master of his Knights of Ren for the General.





	1. Chapter 1

Kylo stumbles back to full consciousness slowly, shaking his head in a vain attempt to clear the fuzziness that makes every thought heavy.  As heavy as his unsteady steps, though that realization trickles into his numbed brain slowly. Where is he walking? Has the Force seized him while he was asleep?

For someone as physical as Kylo, it takes an appallingly long time to register that the heavy bands around his biceps aren’t from his armoured clothing.  And the cool metal bands around his wrists aren’t bracers.

“What’ve you done with me,” he slurs, numb mouth working hard to form intelligible words.

A slight snort from one of the beings escorting him is his only answer.  The firm grip of they and their partner are the only thing keeping Kylo on his feet.

Infuriated by the dismissal, Kylo reaches for the Force to teach them a lesson and - 

_ Nothing. _

For the first time ever, the Force isn’t snapping and singing around him, begging (forcing) him to use it (or be used by it).  Not even his Master’s harshest training exercises have so utterly severed him from the Force.

A tingling numbness starts in his fingertips and toes, spreading through him until it feels like a hand around his heart, his lungs aching and stuttering for breath.  The dim corridor he’s being taken through narrows like a hyperspace tunnel, the same actinic white flaring around the edges. Only the steady hands on his arms keep him moving forward, keep him anchored to the clumsy muscle and bone which is all he’s left with without the Force.  Some level of Kylo’s awareness registers the concerned buzz of voices around him.

“...the General...know - to do,” he catches only a handful of the words, completely meaningless in the face of his loss.

His head drops forward, blank gaze fixing on the unsteady progress of his boots.  One, two, one, two… This thing, this small thing, Kylo can seize control over. With fierce concentration, he manages to even his stride, feeling his pulse and breathing begin to follow the steady metronome of stiff soles thudding down on polished lanoliplast.

All his attention fixed on his feet, Kylo is left blinking back tears at the sudden harsh light when a door swishes open in front of him.

“Ah, Kylo Ren,” a voice pierces the fog, precise diction making their words sharp.  “I see Snoke sent his hound at last.” A breath to continue the sarcastic commentary, but there’s a pause.  “What did you do to him?”

Kylo can feel one of his guards shift in what must be a shrug.  A clipped female voice answers the first speaker. “We had him up and moving as the effects of the gas faded, General, and he surfaced enough to ask a question.  Shortly thereafter, he began to hyperventilate and shiver.”

A huff, then sharp strides carry a pair of tall black boots into Kylo’s vision.  Well worn, but highly polished and neatly laced. A leather-gloved hand on his chin makes him start, but though the grip is firm, it’s not harsh.  The hand guides him to look up, fuzzy vision registering red, green, and pale.

He’s vaguely conscious of an assessing gaze, but fails to draw together the focus to do the same.

When the voice speaks again, it has softened.  It no longer sounds like an adversary.

“Alright, Kylo,” another hand draws his own to rest against a crisp shirt.  He can feel a heartbeat under his palms, and the rumble as the voice speaks.  “I want you to breathe with me. Can you do that?”

Kylo considers this, and nods.  Already he can feel his breath and heart responding to the voice’s.

“Good.  In - and out.  In - and out.” 

Kylo follows along, matching his pace even after the voice stops speaking.  The hand around his heart releases him, the tingling fades as the voice’s steady calm seeps into Kylo.

And as his vision clears, he realizes he’s been matching his breath to his target’s.  Armitage Hux.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for those of you who asked, this fic is totally going to be longer than one chapter. I just forgot to select that it was a chaptered fic. I hope you enjoy!

But this Hux bears minimal resemblance to the holo of an uptight First Order officer that his Master had shown him when giving Kylo this assignment..  While his hair is only slightly longer, it’s raked back in a messy swoop. His starched formal Order uniform has given way to a pressed but untucked black BDU shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows, and practical black cargos tucked into his tall boots.  His sidearm is in a thigh holster, the well-worn grip giving the lie to the rumour that Hux had never seen battle, and the brace of vibro-blades on his other thigh look similarly used. Kylo would wager he’s carrying more weapons unseen. He even has a short beard!

But the biggest difference can be read in his eyes.  In the holo, captured shortly before Hux’s promotion to General and subsequent disappearance, there had been deep shadows under the man’s eyes.  They betrayed a pinched wariness, and an almost feral fanaticism. While the man standing before Kylo still has shadows under his eyes, he looks settled in himself, and the slight lines at the corners suggest that a smile wouldn’t look out of place.

In fact, Kylo notices the corner of Hux’s mouth beginning to quirk.  It’s then that he realizes he’s spent the past few moments staring blankly at the man he was sent to eliminate.  He can feel a betraying flush begin to spread across his cheeks; which, stripped of his helmet, Hux can’t help but see.  Particularly with how close he’s still standing.

As if hearing this thought, Hux takes a few steps back to his original position and leans casually against the heavy table, long legs crossed at the ankle.  It’s so different from the man Kylo had expected to meet. Hux no longer appears as a particularly lifelike droid, rigid and uncompromising. Kylo forces away the brief flash of envy at the man’s newfound ease.

“So, Kylo Ren,” his voice breaks a silence that had begun to feel awkward, and dispels the last of Kylo’s disorientation, “if it was the suppression of your Force connection which caused your distress, I apologize.  I had hoped to make your time here as cordial as possible.

“The phenomenon blocking the Force is the result of the binders you wear.  If removed, your connection will return as normal.”

Kylo’s heart skips a beat when he hears that his loss is not permanent.  But no one is moving as if to remove the binders. He curses the loss of his mask and his damnably expressive face when Hux frowns at the naked hope he must be showing.

“I’m sure you arrived with orders to kill me, and probably all my people as well.  Since I cannot allow that, regrettably, I cannot free you just yet.”

“Why you…” Rage well up in Kylo as quickly as his hopes had when Hux denies him.  He lunges for the other man, but the durasteel grips of his guards don’t allow more than a step forward..  Hux hadn’t even flinched.

“Hold,” Hux halts his guards before they can bring Kylo to his knees.

Hux sighs, raking a hand through his hair in what has clearly become a common gesture without the pomade.  “Ren, I’m not an idiot. Did you really expect that I would take the trouble to restrain you, but set you free at the first sign of discomfort?  Knowing you would try to kill me?”

The lack of animosity in Hux’s voice proves disarming.  Without meaning to, Kylo finds himself asking, “then why bother?  Your reputation would indicate you don’t balk at killing, unless you in-” but Kylo trails off as his eyes roll back and his knees give out.  Only the quick reflexes of his taller guard save him from hitting the floor with bruising force..

* * *

Kylo blinks eyelids so clogged with sleep it feels as though he’s been slogging through a sandstorm on Tattooine.  A  _ long _ one.  But the blank ceiling that greets him when he unsticks his eyes sufficiently looks more like the sterile durasteel of his quarters on the  _ Harbinger _ .  Only his mattress is nowhere near this comfortable.  Neither Admiral Peavy nor his Master hold with such small luxuries.  No wonder he slept deeply.

Only when he goes to stretch out the Force as well as his stiff muscles does Kylo begin to recall the previous events.  He rolls his feet to the floor and sits up, rubbing sand from his eyes.

“How long was I out?”

What should have been a rhetorical question is answered by an even voice.  “You’ve been unconscious for about sixteen hours, Coruscant time.”

Kylo’s head snaps up in alarm, but his unsteady legs betray him as he tries to stand.  For some reason, his alarm eases when he sees Hux, chin perched on folded hands as he sits in one of the room’s two chairs.  “What...You’ve been - how long?”

Hux’s mouth quirks at the incoherent question.  “Never fear, I have better things to do than sit here and watch you sleep.  The good Captain and Finn took you for a brief scan in medical. Once it was determined that you simply needed to sleep off the backlash of being abruptly severed from the Force, you were brought here.  Remote monitoring of your vital signs alerted me you would soon be waking, so I thought we could finish our conversation.”

Scrutinizing Hux, Kylo can’t make out any indications the other man is anything but honest.  Where is the scheming weasel? The rabid cur his Master had cautioned him about? And without the Force, how can he be certain of Hux’s intentions?

“What conversation?  Whatever you think you can get from me, I promise, you’re mistaken.  Torture me as you will, I will never betray my Master. You should have just killed me,” Kylo snarls.  “I’m not a  _ traitor _ like you.”

Hux merely raises an eyebrow.  “Are you so certain  _ I’m _ the one who’s a traitor?”

Stung, Kylo recoils.  “I was right to leave the Jedi,” he protests.

“I’m not referring to you and the Jedi.”

However casual his tone, Kylo can see calculations ticking behind Hux’s jade eyes.  He kicks himself for betraying a potential vulnerability so easily. “How could the First Order have possibly betrayed you?” he tries to deflect.

Hux allows it gracefully.  “I was told all my life, raised to believe that first the Empire, then the Order had a grand mission to save the Galaxy from the corruption, decadence, and false promises of a Republic grown too bloated to function.  As I rose through the ranks, I saw a number of acts and policies seemingly in conflict with that ideal. But I always told myself that these things were temporary. That sacrifices were necessary to purge the old system and replace it.

“However, once I was promoted to General, they wanted to put me in command…” Hux trails off, sharp gaze clouded by the past.  Before Kylo can take advantage of his inattention. Hux snaps himself back to the present. “That’s not why you’re still alive.  What’s more important than anything in the past is the path I’ve chosen. Because the Order  _ is _ right about some things.  In spite of the best efforts of a few Senators to truly serve the people, the Republic  _ is _ hopelessly corrupt.  But a military dictatorship isn’t the way to stop exploitation or oppression.”

The animation Hux shows while speaking has caught Kylo in spite of himself.  He feels Hux’s green eyes piercing him when Hux asks, “can you give me a month?  One month of cooperation, no escape or murder attempts while I show you what my crew is trying to do for the Galaxy.”


End file.
